Importance of staying on stand till dark

[Vince1]

Hunted up in 3M and didn't see a single doe all day.

 

moved from a bedding area to a spot where they were eating last year and sat for the night and STILL didn't see anything. So at about 6:00pm I decide with an hour hike out and a two hour drive ahead of me Im packing it in.

 

So i set my bow down and the MINUTE a start to climb down a nice sized bear come strolling to my thirty yard line and stops when she hears me cuss looks at me and then runs down to a hill where i have a 40 yard shot and stops and looks at me.

 

I am never leaving stand again till the sun has dropped below the horizon. been out every weekend even in the rain and havnt had any luck. but it all in all it was still a nice sit. First time seeing a bear from stand was cool.

[First-light]

I believe in staying to last light. You never know what may come along. There have been times when I thought everything was perfect and I get a big goose egg to show. Legally you should stop hunting at sunset in your area, some do some don't.

This thread will turn into a pissing match about what I just said…lol. I personally don't watch the time, I'll call the day myself. 

[greensider]

a friend of mine text me last night just at the end of legal light he sent his bow to the ground and looked up to see 4 bears between him and his friend 2 were big it took a long time for them to get down

[Doc]

I am always looking at the remaining daylight and picturing what it would be like to find an arrow, or locate the first blood. Both can be very helpful in trying to begin blood-trailing a shot deer. There have been a few times on gray, dismal, drizzly days back in the darker areas of the woods where I have actually left before the legal quitting hours because I had determined that finding that first blood would be a problem.

 

With a bow, it is generally recommended that you do not immediately bail out of your stand right after shooting. That even compounds the problem of lost tracking light.

[sweet old bill]

I use to stay till total dark, but now at 74 I walk out in the last light.  I always have had a issue with finding a deer if you shoot at that last light. About 8 years ago I had a natural made blind of a downed maple tree on the ground and just at dark a 7 point buck walked into a scrape he had made that was within 20 yards of were I sat. I had a perfect shot and hit him great, I sat there and waited about 15 minutes, then walked to the spot, by then I had to use a flashlight to check for blood trail. I lost the trail within minutes, so I packed up when home and got a Coleman light and 2 buddies to help me look for the deer. We found the buck within 70 yards of were I hit him. But the Coleman was key to finding the deer. It gave off enough light so we could follow the blood trail. I sure do not want to leave a deer that been hit for the coyote can have a meal.

[Uncle Nicky]

I usually check the forecast before I head out in the afternoon. If rain is predicted that night, I'll leave before it's dark. Not a fan of tracking in the dark, and if rain washes away the blood trail, it's a crap shoot the next day trying to recover your deer.

[BizCT]

The last few minutes before sunset can be the best. Always stay if you can.

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[thphtm]

A GPS ,a compass and a flashlight can be your best friend if you intend staying on your stand after sunset.

[Chris B]

Hunted up in 3M and didn't see a single doe all day.

 

moved from a bedding area to a spot where they were eating last year and sat for the night and STILL didn't see anything. So at about 6:00pm I decide with an hour hike out and a two hour drive ahead of me Im packing it in.

 

 

I only have a 10 minute walk out so my situation is much different but I would definitely sit tight from now on. I don't even plan on seeing deer until 6 o'clock lol

[monkeyman2269]

Isn't it illegal to shoot after sunset but it's still light out

[Nomad]

Buckle your seatbelt boys !

[Five Seasons]

NY's sunrise/sunset rules are senseless. 30+ is the safe standard. Even then I wait to get down just to limit spooking.

[zeus1gdsm]

Uh oh. Here we go!

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[Meat First]

Yea well buddy shot at 7:00 PM Oct 3rd and hit he "thinks " what was a doe "it might have been a buck" ??? and recovered arrow broken below the vanes but no blood trail at all.  Looked with spotlights and next morning for hours and still no blood>>>"So where did you hit it?" "Oh not sure maybe the leg?????"  So maybe legal light rule might not be so senseless...

[BizCT]

Yea well buddy shot at 7:00 PM Oct 3rd and hit he "thinks " what was a doe "it might have been a buck" ??? and recovered arrow broken below the vanes but no blood trail at all. Looked with spotlights and next morning for hours and still no blood>>>"So where did you hit it?" "Oh not sure maybe the leg?????" So maybe legal light rule might not be so senseless...

Report that clown!

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[monkeyman2269]

I may push it by 5 or so minutes but that's it

[Grizz1219]

The law states sunrise to sunset... if you go early or stay hunting later.... you are at risk... just saying... 

[Grizz1219]

ps..

 

  I think it is a BS law... 

[Vince1]

I honstly dont clock watch. Grey to grey is what i should have said.

I was out there to take does anyway like they want. If a dec officer happened by he would have to be pretty screwed up to hit me with an offence for that.

Besides just tryin to make the point that had i sat longer i woulda shot my first bear with a good half hour of shootin time left.

[BizCT]

The law states sunrise to sunset... if you go early or stay hunting later.... you are at risk... just saying...

Only if hunting.

I get in the woods typically an hour before legal shooting time. I sit in the dark (unloaded). At the end of the day I unload but sometimes stay sitting for awhile past shooting time just to see if I can see anything off in the distance.

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[jjb4900]

Yea well buddy shot at 7:00 PM Oct 3rd and hit he "thinks " what was a doe "it might have been a buck" ??? and recovered arrow broken below the vanes but no blood trail at all.  Looked with spotlights and next morning for hours and still no blood>>>"So where did you hit it?" "Oh not sure maybe the leg?????"  So maybe legal light rule might not be so senseless...

that really has no bearing on the law, but more a case of someone taking a shot that they shouldn't have.

[jjb4900]

I've always got in before light and sit until dark.....but I do watch the time and have no reason or desire to shoot before or after legal time.

[Five Seasons]

Yea well buddy shot at 7:00 PM Oct 3rd and hit he "thinks " what was a doe "it might have been a buck" ??? and recovered arrow broken below the vanes but no blood trail at all.  Looked with spotlights and next morning for hours and still no blood>>>"So where did you hit it?" "Oh not sure maybe the leg?????"  So maybe legal light rule might not be so senseless...

 

or maybe your buddy is an idiot. Just because it's legal doesn't make it right either. Dark canopies don't provide good light even in NY legal hours sometimes. A field on a fresh snow and a full moon can be more than enough with a scope. You need to be legal AND USE YOUR BRAIN.

[beachpeaz]

The hunters of this state lack common sense thus why our useless DEC has a "sunrise to sunset" rule.  That is about as vague as saying a deer generally weighs between 10 and 500 pounds.

 

The fact is, there is safe shooting light sometimes 30 minutes or more before sunrise and sometimes there is NOT safe shooting light 30 minutes or more after sunrise.  Same with sunset.

 

Thats why most other states are 30 minutes BEFORE sunrise to 30 minutes AFTER sunset for "legal" shooting light.  They rely on common sense that if, at 30 minutes before sunrise it is not safe, you don't shoot.

 

Without that idiotic law in NY though, people would be flinging lead in the pitch black with a flashlight (not that we all haven't heard those shots already).

[beachpeaz]

Hunted up in 3M and didn't see a single doe all day.

 

moved from a bedding area to a spot where they were eating last year and sat for the night and STILL didn't see anything. So at about 6:00pm I decide with an hour hike out and a two hour drive ahead of me Im packing it in.

 

So i set my bow down and the MINUTE a start to climb down a nice sized bear come strolling to my thirty yard line and stops when she hears me cuss looks at me and then runs down to a hill where i have a 40 yard shot and stops and looks at me.

 

I am never leaving stand again till the sun has dropped below the horizon. been out every weekend even in the rain and havnt had any luck. but it all in all it was still a nice sit. First time seeing a bear from stand was cool.

 

So, you sat ALL day just to leave at the best possible time to hunt??  Why not just leave at noon and save yourself the trouble?